Scout’s Development in To Kill a Mockingbird

In this book, Scout’s maturity follows the concept of Bloom’s Taxonomy, a multi-tiered model of conceptual thinking according to six levels of complexity (Forehand).

Scout starts out using only the two bottom layers of this method, knowledge and observation, and comprehension, both which she has had since a very young age. Scout moves up a level in this system when she applies pre-known knowledge and analyzes situations.

For instance, when Walter Cunningham would not take Miss Caroline’s money, Scout realizes that Walter wouldn’t take the money because he didn’t want it, but instead, he wouldn’t take it because he could never pay it back. Scout reaches the last two levels, synthesis and evaluation, much later in the book when she attends the trial and puts together the ideas of racism and evil in her community. By using this formula of maturation, we can see that Scout has developed new understandings of the things and people around her and that she is using old concepts to create new ideas.

In the beginning of the book, Scout is very ignorant and she certainly does not think before she acts. She says things that she may not truly mean like when she says that Walter “ain’t company, he’s just a Cunningham” (Lee 33).

Scout also thinks that Boo Radley is a monster and she is extremely frightened of him. As discussed before, when Scout was telling Miss Caroline about Walter, she shows that she is an immature child who is very impulsive. In the start of **To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout shows that she is most certainly not an adult, but she shows signs of growth.

... must have a different childhood compared with Jem dill and scout. Walter seems to miss out on a lot and his family ... of the other children in the book have very different backgrounds and ways from Jem, Scout and Dill. One of these families ... their most played upon fantasies is Boo Radley. In the book they go through stages were they are so wrapped up ...

Atticus is one of the main factors of Scout’s growth and maturity because of him being a strong and wise man, even in tough situations, therefore helping Scout to overcome many obstacles. Thanks to Atticus, Scout learned to be more considerate and never judge a person until you have walked in their shoes (Austin).

An example of this is when Scout stands in front of the window on Boo Radley’s porch and imagines the world through his eyes and she gets a different perspective and understanding of what Boo was thinking.

Another time when Atticus helps Scout on her journey into maturity is when Atticus tells Scout that she shouldn’t fight, she takes his advice seriously and does not fight Cecil. Even though this task of walking away from a fight is very hard for Scout, she feels that Atticus has gained respect for her and she does not want to let him down. Even though Atticus isn’t always present in Scout’s life, he still makes prominent influences that help Scout grow. In beginning of this novel, Scout is a tomboy and is most certainly not interested in most typical likes and interests of girls her age, like dresses and dolls.

Many women of Maycomb, especially Mrs. Dubose and Alexandra, point out to Scout that she is not acting like a lady should. All of these women blame Atticus and his parenting skills for Scout’s unladylike manners. Atticus has Alexandra move in with the family to give Scout a strong female influence, which pays of in the end when Scout says, “If Aunt Alexandra could be a lady at a time like this, so could I” (Lee 318).

When Scout experiences the trial of Tom Robinson and other unfair events, she learns that the world is not perfect, but instead is filled with many evils. Jem and Scout were sure that Tom was going to win the trial, but they soon learned that racism overpowered justice and that there was no way that Tom could receive the fair result he deserved. Scout observes more racism when she attends Calpurnia’s church and Lulu criticizes Calpurnia by telling her, “You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here” (Lee 158).

... big as an influence on the story as Jem, Scout, and Atticus. Boo Radley's shape is black and spiky on the end ... believes has an effect on someone. The gray represents his maturity and reliability. Both qualities are shown during the time before ... and reasoning. Atticus is connected to Scout by the finger-like extension because Scout looks up to him, trusts him, and learns both moral ...

Scout also connects the ideas of the relationship between Hitler and the Jews and how the whites treat the blacks, and she realizes how similar these two things are. Scout has obtained the skill to render her own ideas, instead of just accepting other’s ideas, a major milestone in her growing maturity. Along with the racial prejudice in Maycomb, Scout also observes the differences between the classes of people. Scout sees and hears about the Ewells and their low class during the first day of school, but does not think much of it except that they just have less than her family.

When Walter Cunningham comes to eat with the Finch family, Scout calls him out for putting maple syrup on his food. Scout does not realize that Walter is doing this because he does not have this luxury at home, and that many others in Maycomb are lesser than her. Scout learns that even though all people should be equal, society still refuses to accept that fact. A sign of Scout’s growing of maturity was shown when she learned to tolerate the horrible behavior of the people of Maycomb (Solomon).

When the kids in her school were calling Atticus names and trashing him, Scout realized that she couldn’t do anything about it, and fighting was obviously not the answer. Instead she just walked away and acted like nothing happened, ultimately paying off. It was a struggle for Scout to overcome Mrs. Dubose’s rude comments about her and her family, but after realizing that everyone is entitled to their opinions, Scout didn’t let anything get to her much.

When Scout experiences the superficial comments of her community, she controls herself and her emotions showing great achievement in her maturity. When Scout first learned about Boo Radley, she was very afraid because of the stories she had heard, but by the end of the book, she had learned much about the truth of Boo and she gained respect for him, showing a leap in her growth. When Boo puts the blanket around Scout, she was extremely frightened realizing that Boo came out of his house, but soon becomes grateful.

The major point where Scout realized that Boo was nothing put pure good was when he saved her and Jem from Bob Ewell. Scout quickly realized that without Boo’s help, she would have been dead. She shows her appreciation by escorting Boo back to his house. Throughout the book, Scout quickly gains respect** for Boo and therefore does not fear him anymore. By the end of the book, Scout shows that she has learned one of life’s key rules that Atticus had taught her earlier; you can’t use preconceived knowledge to judge someone, you have to “climb into his skin and walk around in it.

... weren't teaching because I am sure the didn't learn anything. If you have this class next year I ... definitely think that you should request 2 class sets of books because that would make it a lot easier for ... that if we would have been able to take our books home we would have gotten a wider amount of ... to teach two classes with only one class set of books. It was a struggle to get all the information ...

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